When Venus passes directly between the Earth and the Sun, we see the planet as a small dot passing slowly across the face of the Sun. Edwin Hubble described this transit as “the most noble event in astronomy.” It is a rare event that occurs in pairs, eight years apart. The first one of this pair was in 2004 and the second will occur on June 5 or 6, 2012, depending on your location. Observers in North America see it the evening of June 5. The next one won’t occur for over a century, in 2117.

Sheri Ritchlin

Sheri Ritchlin has posted material on the subject which explores the deeper meaning of the transit in its relation to the Mesoamerican Quetzalcoatl-Venus (Mayan Kukulkan) and the birth of the Sixth Sun in 2012 according to both the Nahuatl (Aztec-Toltec) and Mayan Calendars.